TOLAND ASC DIGITAL ASSISTANT PAINTING WITH LIGHT or more than 70 years, the American Cinematographer Manual has been the key technical resource for cinematographers around the world. Chemical Wed- ding is proud to be partners with the American Society of Cinematographers in bringing you Toland ASC Digital Assistant for the iPhone or iPod Touch. FCinematography is a strange and wonderful craft that combines cutting-edge technology, skill and the management of both time and personnel. Its practitioners “paint” with light whilst juggling some pretty challenging logistics. We think it fitting to dedicate this application to Gregg Toland, ASC, whose work on such classic films as Citizen Kane revolutionized the craft of cinematography. While not every aspect of the ASC Manual is included in Toland, it is designed to give solutions to most of cinematography’s technical challenges. This application is not meant to replace the ASC Manual, but rather serve as a companion to it. We strongly encourage you to refer to the manual for a rich and complete understanding of cin- ematography techniques. The formulae that are the backbone of this application can be found within the ASC Manual. The camera and lens data have largely been taken from manufacturers’ speci- fications and field-tested where possible. While every effort has been made to perfect this application, Chemical Wedding and the ASC offer Toland on an “as is” basis; we cannot guarantee that Toland will be infallible. That said, Toland has been rigorously tested by some extremely exacting individuals and we are confident of its accuracy. Since many issues related to cinematography are highly subjective, especially with re- gard to Depth of Field and HMI “flicker” speeds, the results Toland provides are based upon idealized scenarios. The only way to ensure accuracy is to perform your own tests under your specific conditions. If you do observe any anomalies, please contact Chemi- cal Wedding and we will take immediate action. A word from ASC President Michael Goi: It is entirely appropriate to name this application in honor of Gregg Toland, ASC, one of cinema’s most groundbreaking artists. With this venture and more to follow, the ASC is expanding its outreach and influence to future cinematographers and the working professional by creating tools that reflect how we work today. These tools reflect the Society’s ongoing mission to educate, inform and influence cinematographers everywhere. THE BASICS oland adopts a “holistic” approach to the process of cinematography, and is therefore unlike any other app you may have used. This doesn’t mean that Toland employs the use of crystals or leaches. Put simply, To- land takes into consideration all of the variables of cinematography and ORANGE works with you throughout the shooting process. T GREEN Rather than having to enter specific data to answer specific questions, Toland is designed to track your choices as you make them. As you change the camera RED speed, you will instantly get feedback on how this affects running time and ex- posure; when you change lenses, you will see Depth of Field and Field of View updates in real time. Toland then allows you to log all this information to build BLUE comprehensive camera reports. PURPLE To do this we have broken down the art of cinematography into four main techni- cal concerns. These are: CAMERA which deals with all the functions of a camera system, their effect on ex- posure and other consequences; LENS dealing primarily with Depth of Field, Field of View and diopters; LIGHTING (currently under construction) will address photometrics and color tem- perature; LOGGING enables the user to create a comprehensive log of the camera’s functions, which can be recorded on a shot-by-shot basis and distributed later. You can access these functions via the buttons atop each main page, and logging via the “log” button on bottom right. The button on bottom left tells you which of your cameras you are currently using, and also allows you to add and toggle between cameras. Color-Coding To keep things simple, Toland uses a system of color-coded buttons. You can tell immediately which values can be changed and what kind of information you are seeing. If the value is: ORANGE values are variable and are available to be changed by you. GREEN values are results - the consequences of values you’ve changed. RED values are warnings (for example, if you attempt to exceed the speed range of the camera) BLUE values are transitional values and cannot be changed directly. PURPLE values in the process of being modified. Button Functions Buttons with a shiny 3D look that scream “I can be clicked” will either move to another page or bring up a picker. If these buttons have little arrows beside them, you can also use the swipe method to change their value incrementally. Simply place your finger on the button and flick left or right to make the value go up or down. It’s worth prac- ticing this a little. At any time you can do a regular click and a “picker” screen will pop up and let you change the value more precisely. Result buttons are blue and green and look more like the screen of an old computer. You can click on the shiny ones, but buttons that look flat don’t al- low you to change anything. Green result buttons cannot be clicked. Blue result buttons cannot be clicked Shiny buttons that can be clicked. Buttons with arrows to the left and right can also be swiped. GETTING STARTED efore your shoot, you should spend some quality time familiarizing yourself with Toland and its functions. The very first thing you should do when you launch Toland is to set up a camera. If this is your first time us- ing Toland, pick a motion-picture camera you know well, or the camera Byou are about to use. Located on the bottom left of the Camera Page is a button with a camera icon and a letter. Tapping here will bring up the Choose Camera Page. From here you can save and swap between saved cameras. Tap the + button on the bottom right of the page. This takes you through the process of adding your camera. Follow this example: System Format select 35mm Camera Type select ARRI LT Camera Format select Super 35mm Film (3-perf) Aspect Ratio select 1.78 (16:9) Film Manufacturer select Kodak Film Stock select Vision2 200T + #85 Lens Type select Zeiss Master Primes Select the lenses you have in your arsenal, then tap Save Lenses at the bottom of the page. This then brings you back to the Choose Camera Page. You can store up to seven cameras in this list. There are three more buttons on the bottom of this page. Tap the button first to activate it, then select the camera to modify from your list above. DUPLICATE duplicates a camera package in the list; EDIT TITLE allows you to give that package a name (e.g. Second-Unit B Camera) RE-ORDER allows you to re-order the list so you can specify which is A, B or C cam- era. If you delete the “A” camera, all the others will shunt up the order, so watch out for that. BASE SETTINGS fter selecting the camera you have just set up from the list, you now need to check the Base Settings. These are typically the sync-sound settings for your project, along with the basic functions you consider “normal” on your shoot. On the bottom of the main pages is the Base Settings bar. Click here to bring either Change Base Settings or Reset Ato Base Settings. Choose Change Base Settings: CIRCLE OF CONFUSION for use in depth-of-field calculations BASE FPS or sync-sound speed BASE SHUTTER or the shutter you consider “normal” LINE FREQUENCY of the power supply STOP FRACTIONS which is limited to half and third stops Press Done at the bottom to return to the main page. At any time you can use the Reset Base Settings to return to the basic “normal” settings of the camera. By now you’re probably thinking, “What the…?” But don’t worry: this is as com- plicated as it gets. Once you’ve chosen your camera and the correct Base Settings in Toland, things become much easier. In fact, the core idea of this application is that you enter this key information once, upfront; after that you just enter adjust for what changes, shot-to-shot. CAMERA SECTION ll motion-picture cameras have pretty much the same variable func- tions - camera speed (FPS) and Shutter Angle are the most universal. Within any specific camera system, other factors come into play, in- cluding camera filters (either in front of or behind the lens), film stock or sensor ISO, and the lens used for each shot. All of these factors Ahave some bearing on the issue of exposure, one of the principal technical con- cerns of both cinematography and this application. To demonstrate, select the camera’s frame rate by tapping on the FPS button. This takes you to the Shutter and FPS sub-page. Shutter and Speed (FPS) This is a sub-page of the Camera Page. It allows you to change the camera speed (FPS) and the Shutter Angle (for cameras with variable shutters) and to see what effect these have on screen time, exposure and whether flicker will be an issue. You can either swipe FPS to select standard shoot- ing speeds or tap to enter a picker for a more exotic speed. If you exceed the camera’s speed range, Toland warns you by turning the speed GREEN value Red.